Product description

From a writer "whose genre-jumping refusal to be pinned down [makes him] an exemplar of our era" (NPR), a new book that confirms his power to astound readers.
As a child Geoff Dyer spent long hours making and blotchily painting model fighter planes. So the adult Dyer jumped at the chance of a residency aboard an aircraft carrier. "Another Great Day at Sea" chronicles Dyer's experiences on the USS "George H.W. Bush" as he navigates the routines and protocols of "carrier-world," from the elaborate choreography of the flight deck through miles of walkways and hatches to kitchens serving meals for a crew of five thousand to the deafening complexity of catapult and arresting gear. Meeting the Captain, the F-18 pilots and the dentists, experiencing everything from a man-overboard alert to the Steel Beach Party, Dyer guides us through the most AIE (acronym intensive environment) imaginable.
A lanky Englishman (could he really be both the tallest and the oldest person on the ship?) in a deeply American world, with its constant exhortations to improve, to do better, Dyer brilliantly records the daily life on board the ship, revealing it to be a prism for understanding a society where discipline and conformity, dedication and optimism, become forms of self-expression. In the process it becomes clear why Geoff Dyer has been widely praised as one of the most original--and funniest--voices in literature.
"Another Great Day at Sea" is the definitive work of an author whose books defy definition.

Author information

GEOFF DYER's books include "But Beautiful" (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award); "The Missing of the Somme; Out of Sheer Rage; The Ongoing Moment" (winner of the ICP Infinity Award for writing on photography); "Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi; "and "Zona." His many awards include the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, and, most recently, a National Book Critics Circle Award for the essay collection "Otherwise Known as the Human Condition." He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and his books have been translated into twenty-four languages. Dyer currently lives in Venice, California.

Review quote

Tom Lavoie, "Shelf Awareness
""Geoff Dyer is one of those writers who can't stop--he'll write about anything that catches his fancy and do it really well....This is a riveting (excuse the pun) excursion into bigness and 'endless walkways, hatches, and doorways, ' and it's totally engrossing.....Dyer goes on quite a trip and keeps us intrigued the whole way."
"Publishers Weekly"
"An often hilarious and aphoristic, short-chaptered account written by a British essayist who is fascinated by American culture....a highly entertaining read."
Jason Diamond, " Flavorwire"
"When Geoff Dyer wants to write about something, he gets totally into it. Be it a Russian film or yoga, Dyer's unique take on whatever situation he's focused on always yields a great book. In this latest case, Dyer finds himself on an American supercarrier, and the results are nothing short of superb."
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Huffington Post"
""When Dyer delves into a specific topic, he delves deeply, which is why we're looking forward to his latest exploration: what life aboard an aircraft carrier is like. As always, he laces his observations with comedy and captivating storytelling."
Jay Freeman, "Booklist"
"Unique, interesting, and surprising . . . fascinating."
Billy Collins, author of "Aimless Love
""Geoff Dyer has managed to do again what he does best: insert himself into an exotic and demanding environment (sometimes, his own flat, but here, the violent wonders of an aircraft carrier) and file a report that mixes empathetic appreciation with dips into brilliant comic deflation. Welcome aboard the edifying and sometimes hilarious ship Dyer."
Annie Dillard, author of "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
""What could be better than weeks far away on the flat seas of the Arabian Gulf with Geoff Dyer? He is, if possible, even more witty and charming than usual. The carrier's hugeness, its crew's tireless cheer and openness, and the enormous mechanical and electrical forcess